Goldfish Brain

The spinach smoothie sat on the counter like a radioactive science experiment, and Maya, age 16, considered her life choices that led to this moment.

"It's literally just kale and spinach, Maya," said Tyler, leaning against the juice bar counter with that annoyingly effortless confidence he wore everywhere. "It won't kill you."

Maya's phone buzzed in her pocket. Probably her mom again, reminding her to take her vitamin D supplement because apparently her deficiency was becoming a family crisis. Meanwhile, Maya was pretty sure her actual problem was that she had the social battery of a coma patient.

"I'm not drinking anything that looks like pond water," Maya said, crossing her arms. "Some of us have standards."

"Some of us are also still single after three months of flirting with the same person," Tyler countered, nodding toward where Liam stood by the dance floor, looking unfairly good in that black hoodie he always wore.

Maya's stomach did that embarrassing flutter thing. "I'm not flirting. I'm being strategic."

"You're being a goldfish, Maya. A literal goldfish. Seven-second memory, forgets everything, spends most of its life hiding in a plastic castle."

"Excuse me for being emotionally consistent!"

And then Liam was walking over, and Maya's brain short-circuited like it always did. The combination of his smile and the bass-heavy pop song blasting through the speakers made her forget every single cool thing she'd ever thought of saying.

"Hey," Liam said. "Is that... is that a green smoothie?"

Maya looked at the radioactive cup. "It's spinach and kale. Very healthy. Very responsible of me."

"That's actually kind of impressive," Liam said, and something in his voice sounded genuine. "I've been trying to get myself to eat better, but everything healthy tastes like sadness."

Tyler snorted. "Maya made it special. It's called 'Avoiding Real Emotions' with a vitamin booster."

Maya considered pushing Tyler into the nearby potted plant.

"I could make you one," Maya heard herself saying. "I mean, if you wanted. I'm not great at them, but I'm pretty sure I can't mess up spinach and fruit too badly."

Liam's smile widened. "Yeah? That'd be actually really cool."

The next day, Maya stood in her kitchen, staring at the blender like it was a bomb she needed to defuse. Her mom's voice floated in from the living room: "Don't forget your vitamin! You know what the doctor said about your levels!"

Maya dumped spinach into the blender with aggressive energy. She was doing this. She was making smoothies for boys she liked and becoming someone who took vitamins regularly and had her life somewhat together.

She added mango (for flavor), banana (for texture), and a tiny bit of honey (because she wasn't a monster). When she finally hit blend, the machine roared to life like a jet engine, and for a second, Maya felt powerful.

The smoothie came out looking slightly less radioactive than Tyler's version. She poured it into a travel cup and wrote "LIAM" on the side in Sharpie, then immediately debated whether the all-caps was too aggressive. Too late now.

At school, she found him by his locker, surrounded by the smell of cafeteria food and the general chaos of before-class hallway traffic.

"I made this," Maya said, thrusting the cup at him like she was delivering a ransom note. "For you. To try. The healthy thing."

Liam took it, looking surprised. "You actually remembered?"

"I have a very good memory," Maya lied, thinking of Tyler's goldfish comment and how she'd almost forgotten to put the lid on the cup this morning. "Unlike certain people who will remain nameless."

Liam took a sip. Maya held her breath.

"Okay," he said, "that's actually really good." His eyes met hers, and there was something there that hadn't been before—something that made her chest feel tight in a good way. "You're, like, secretly good at this."

"I'm full of secrets," Maya said, before she could stop herself.

"Yeah?" Liam grinned. "Like what?"

Maya's phone buzzed in her pocket—her mom again, probably with another health reminder—and for once, she didn't mind. "That's classified information. You'll have to earn that intel."

Liam laughed, and it was better than any vitamin supplement she'd ever taken.

"Challenge accepted," he said.

Maya walked to first period feeling like she might finally be remembering who she was supposed to be—or maybe, finally, becoming someone new.